Empire Wind to install rock layer to stabilize wind turbines; fishing group concerned

A vessel working for offshore wind company Equinor will begin this month dropping a layer of rock around the site of each of 54 turbines and a substation off the coast of Long Beach to help stabilize wind-power turbines, the company said.

In a notice to mariners Tuesday, Norway-based Equinor said the carrier vessel, Nordnes, will begin "installation" of an unspecified amount of rock in a 66-foot radius of each of a planned 54 turbine monopiles and an offshore substation. The nearly 1,000-foot turbines are scheduled to be pile-driven into the seabed in coming months starting at around 15 miles from shore. 

The purpose of the rock layer is to "create a stable base for foundations and to protect against erosion," according to the notice, which describes the rock-layer footprint as "small, with a radius of (66 feet) around each foundation location." 

The first layer of "smaller rocks" will be followed with a second layer of larger rocks after the monopiles are installed, according to the company's website. 

The company warned mariners to maintain a 1,640-foot "safety zone" away from the rock work.

Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, said her members have previously objected to the practice of dropping rocks around the monopiles. 

"You can't trawl with a net over on the ocean bottom" lined with large rocks, she said. "If you pick up giant rocks you can flip your boat." 

Equinor spokesman David Schoetz said the planned rock placements received "complete analysis through the environmental reviews" by federal agencies. He said the two phases of the rock laying include an initial "filter" layer, followed by an "armor" layer that surrounds and supports the monopiles after construction. The company did not disclose the height of the rock layers.

Equinor, as Newsday reported in 2021, had originally planned to put its 54 wind turbines on giant concrete foundations, which were to be built near the Port of Albany, shipped down the Hudson River and lowered from boats onto the ocean floor. 

But the company shifted midstream and instead decided to use less expensive monopile foundations which are pounded into the seafloor using the massive hammer-type system mounted on a barge. Driving each monopile into the seafloor can take approximately 5,000-7,000 blows, according to an Equinor analysis, an action considered one of the potential environmental impacts on marine mammals and other species from the project. The monopiles are driven 197 feet into the seabed, according to a company filing. 

Environmental groups that had largely supported offshore wind and the Empire Wind project at the time raised objections to the switch. 

Two major environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council and The Nature Conservancy, on Friday asked Equinor to keep to its original design for gravity-based foundations "to minimize their impact on marine ecosystems."

The decision to switch to monopiles "comes as a shock, given the lack of consultation," the NRDC wrote in a letter to Equinor in 2021. "The potential sudden reversal will undermine the initial trust and goodwill that Equinor has developed thus far ..."

The Nature Conservancy at the time said it was "disappointing on multiple levels to lose that quiet foundation as an option. Going forward, we’ll be working to make sure the [pile driving] provisions are protective of marine life in New York, where we have whales basically year-round."

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.